Record-Keeping Site BoxRec Gives Francis Ngannou a Lowly Half-Star Rating Following Tyson Fury Fight
Francis Ngannou is getting no respect from the boxing community following his impressive performance against WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury.
Strapping on the eight-ounce gloves for his professional boxing debut, ‘The Predator’ delivered a jaw-dropping performance against perhaps the greatest boxer on the planet, even knocking Fury down with a counter-left hand in the third round.
Despite all of his success, Ngannou came up short of scoring the upset, losing the bout on two of the three judges’ scorecards by the narrowest of margins.
Since then, fight fans have been excited to see what Francis Ngannou can do against some of the heavyweight division’s most prominent stars, including Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, and Joe Joyce. However, not everyone was thrilled with the former UFC champ’s performance.
BoxRec, the official record keeper for combat sports worldwide, regularly assigns a star rating to athletes ranging from 1-to-5. As noted by renowned MMA and boxing journalist Chisanga Malata, the site has seemingly assigned ‘The Predator’ a lowly half-star rating after going the distance with the undefeated WBC titleholder.
“The disrespect to Francis Ngannou is real,” Malata wrote on X. “Half a star rating after dropping and taking the undefeated WBC and former unified heavyweight champion to a split decision. Really?”
BoxRec isn’t known for its accuracy
Founded by John Sheppard in 1995, BoxRec is updated by volunteer editors from many countries around the world. In 2005, BoxRec applied to become recognized as the official record keeper for the Association of Boxing Commissions. The ABC panel opted to go with BoxRec rival Fight Fax, noting that the former had a “substantially lower” accuracy rate than its competitor.
Nonetheless, in 2016 the ABC voted to recognize BoxRec as an official record-keeper alongside Fight Fax.
